IRS says budget cuts forced agency to reduce number of tax audits to lowest level in decade

The IRS says budget cuts forced the agency to reduce the number of tax audits last year to the lowest level in a decade.

In 2014, fewer than 1 percent of individual tax returns were audited, the lowest rate since 2004. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen says the number of audits is likely to decline again this year.

In a speech on Tuesday, Koskinen said there are fewer audits because the tax agency has fewer agents. He said the IRS is down more than 2,200 revenue agents since 2010.

Congress has cut the agency's budget by more than $1.3 billion since 2010.

Koskinen's speech comes in the middle of tax season, just as millions of Americans are filing their annual returns.